Edgar Tolstoff

Name: Edgar Tolstoff

Gender: Male

Age: 18

Grade: 12

School: Aurora High School

Hobbies and Interests: Photography, drawing, walking, hiking, board games and debating

Appearance: Edgar is short for his age at 5"7 and weighs 125 pounds. He has blonde hair, which he keeps meticulously neat, with a parting on the left hand side. His hair is relatively short, partly for neatness and partly for practicality. He makes sure it is short enough to not get in his eyes but not too short, finishing about an inch above his eye line. At the back it is tapered and stops short of his collar. He has piercing blue eyes, a common feature in the family. His face is oval with a small aquiline nose. He is fairly unimposing with a slightly scrawny build, though he has reasonably strong legs and is in fairly good shape. His most notable feature is his eyes which, coupled with his nose, give the impression he is intensely scrutinising anyone he looks at.

He likes to wear practical clothing and is fairly unworried about fashion. However, he makes sure always to look smart and well presented. Edgar is rarely seen without his sketchbook or camera. He commonly wears v neck jumpers in natural colours, such as brown and green, along with jeans or smart trousers. On the day he was abducted Edgar was wearing a green v neck jumper with a collared polo shirt underneath, beige trousers and a pair of practical brown leather shoes. Edgar is unworried by fashion, in the sense of what clothing is conforming to the current style. However, he is meticulous about his appearance, making sure he looks neat partly because it will give a good first impression.

Biography: Edgar Tolstoff was born to first generation Russian-Americans Fyodor and Natalya, two minutes younger than his fraternal twin Kat. Fyodor was a partner at a medium-sized law firm and Natalya was a sous chef at a high class restaurant. As a result the pair grew up pretty comfortably.

The elder Tolstoffs tried their best to be a part of their children's lives, however, their jobs and schedules meant that they were either frequently busy, in Fyodor's case, or had different scheduled hours, often the case with Natalya. Nevertheless, they have tried their best to help out their children and be there for them when they can, although sometimes the only way they can show their love is through money. Edgar appreciates the time when they can actually be there and has learned to deal with their very busy schedules. He realises that it is necessary for them to work to support the family. When they were very young Natalya took time off work to look after them and Fyodor worked from home. As they grew older the twins became more independent and their parents started to correspondingly increase their workload. Furthermore, as they grew older the twins became increasingly involved in after school and extra curricular activities. For Edgar these largely revolved around, and to an extent formed, his interests such as art.

From the beginning, there were stark differences between Edgar and Kat. While Edgar was much more introspective, preferring photography, Katarin was much more athletic and social, frequently hanging out with other kids and staying active. Even at nursery Edgar was very prepared to allow other people to take the limelight and attention. This is partly because he was used to this, after playing with his sister during his formative years. He was serious and earnest but always tried to be nice to those around him. As such he did make friends, Edgar had also been taught by his parents that loyalty was hugely important, so he kept his friends and was very devoted to them. Edgar was very content to enjoy the landscape around him, sitting under trees and enjoying nature, he found it very soothing. Many of the pictures he did at this stage were of trees and animals, and he quickly found a love of art.

Edgar greatly admired his parents, and especially his father, they proved to be a great influence on him during his formative years. Even from a young age they imparted a great work ethic on him. He also saw that their work ethic had been rewarded throughout their lives and was determined to emulate this. He hugely admired his dad and many of his views on how to dress and interact with people come from his father. These formed over many years but were very important to him. Edgar watched his father check his suit and tie in front of the mirror every morning and how he always look smart. Edgar realised that image was important and that looking smart was important as a first step. Furthermore, he learnt to think before he spoke and be polite to people irrespective of what he thought of them. He realised, from his own experiences, that throughout life it was necessary for him to work with people he didn't like and there was no sense in being rude to them.

It was important to their parents that the twins stayed fit and healthy. Edgar was not hugely keen on sports, not liking the physical aspect and often lacking the skill and interest to progress at them. When he was smaller his parents used to take them on walks and hikes around Seattle. Edgar loved both these interests because they gave him peace, quiet and time to think. He also loved looking at the landscape as he walked, and often stopped to take photos which he would later turn into drawings. He loved nature and especially the rare beauty of undisturbed nature. It was a natural progression, as he got older, from drawing to photography. These were united by his love of nature and his desire to depict the natural world.

Most of his pictures and drawings were of nature, animals, plants and landscapes. This was partly inspired by a book of natural photography he got as a birthday present when he was 7. He loved this book, spending hours pouring over the photos. He also got tips from it and loves to improve his own technique. Edgar is driven and over the years has loved to improve his work, this ranges from improving his equipment to learning how to improve his technique via practice and advice. He got his first camera at around the same time and the two hobbies have developed hand in hand.

This book of photography, and love of nature, have also inspired Edgar in his love of biology. He loves to study the wonders of the natural world, again as part of his chronicling of the subject. Edgar is hard working and studious towards all of his subjects. His drive to success applies to his school work and he makes sure he works on all subjects not just the ones he likes. Although he works hard on all subjects he loves biology and art best. In class he is generally quiet, and likes to consider the question carefully before answering. This means that although he is hard working and reasonably bright he is often overshadowed in class. His careful micro management and planning can be useful in class but he does sometimes have trouble making quick decisions.

Seeing a lot of his hobbies were not hugely social and also their son's introspective and serious personality his parents were keen for him to widen his interests. Board games were one hobby which he had played with his parents when he was smaller. As he still liked this hobby he dusted off the old games he had played with his parents and restarted the hobby. He liked the strategy element of these games as well as the social and logic elements of the games. He loved to play them to relax and hang out with his friends. In terms of importance Edgar prioritises his school work above all his hobbies, as he knows how important it is to his future.

His parents were also keen that he became more confident. They encouraged him to take up debating, partly because public speaking was an important skill he would use throughout his life. Although it was a parental imposition he came to like debating. He liked the logic and structure of debating. To his surprise he found his careful considered way of speaking, academia and logic were useful skills for debating. Although introspective, Edgar is not actually particularly shy or lacking in confidence. It is more that he likes to think before speaking and is content not to be the centre of attention.

Edgar is polite, though sometimes slightly abrupt with people he doesn't know so well. He is incredibly loyal to his friends and often keeps friends for a long time. He particularly likes arty people or people who share interests with him. He has made friends through his clubs and especially art, board games and debating. Edgar doesn't have a lot of friends, picking friends quite carefully, many of whom he has known throughout school. His loyalty has caused him problems, for example when friends have disappointed him. He expects other people to live up to his sense of loyalty, to be held by those standards he lives by. This can cause him trouble, both emotional pain and arguments, when they do not uphold these standards. However, despite this pain he considers the benefit of this support network of loyal friends to be well worth the effort.

Edgar is very close to his whole family. He really respects his parents but wishes they were less busy, though he appreciates they need to work. As he has grown up Edgar has become fairly independent but he still loves to spend time with his family. As he grows older and university approaches he realises it is important that he learns to take responsibility for himself and be independent, though this does not reflect at all badly on his view of his parents. This desire to take responsibility for himself and be independent does clash slightly with his family loyalty. Edgar likes knowing that he has their support and likewise that he would support them. As a family unit they are very close and loyal. He appreciates everything his parents have done for them over their working life and the lessons he has learnt from them. Ideally they would have been more present but he understands both the practical necessity and the lessons they taught him. He also loves his twin sister very much. The pair seem to work, as a ying yang balance. Their very conflicting personalities seem to balance each other. As he grew older he realised that whilst he would prefer to see his parents more often that it was necessary for them to work. Whenever they are able the family look to do things together, such as hikes and family meals. Though Edgar can be annoyed by his sister, as they are quite different and are happy to affectionately tease, they are very fond of each other. These family occasions, though less frequent as the twins grew up, are important and often cherished occasions. The twins have drifted slightly over the years but are still fiercely loyal and will look out for each other.

After school Edgar wants to study natural sciences or art at university. He is considering a career in academics if his art does not prove to be expedient. He has applied and been accepted to MIT to study natural sciences, he hopes to either do extra modules indulging his love of arts or simply to pursue it in his own time.

Advantages: Edgar is smart and calm. He will think before acting which may well help him to avoid making a rash move or upsetting people. He is reasonably physically fit due to his hiking and has some knowledge of nature. He can likely rely on his twin sister Katarin for support.

Disadvantages: He may struggle to make friends or alliances with people he doesn't know as well because, although not shy, he is not particularly social. Furthermore, Edgar is very loyal to others, and somebody could use that sense of loyalty against him. Edgar is careful and thoughtful trying to plan every detail and may struggle to act spontaneously or make speedy decisions when the situation calls for it.

Designated Number: Male student No. 065

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Designated Weapon: Syrup of Ipecac

Conclusion: Well, that's certainly a draw with less pedigree than his sister's. On second thought, she's not such a wimp either. Edgar, how's the name Elizabeth sound to you? - Andrew Denning

'The above biography is as written by aristea. No edits or alterations to the author's original work have been made.'

Evaluations
Handled by: aristea, swirlythingy

Kills: None

Killed By: Travis Webster

Collected Weapons:  Syrup of Ipecac (designated weapon)

Allies:

Enemies: Cody Patton, Jenna Rhodes, Jack McDonald, Travis Webster

Mid-game Evaluation:

Post-Game Evaluation:

Memorable Quotes:

Threads
Below is a list of threads that contain Edgar, in chronological order.

V5:
 * Rebellion
 * An Ironic Choice of Scenery
 * Don't Panic
 * I'm a Mechanical, I'm a Mechanical, I'm a Mechanical Man
 * Sunrise
 * For What Happened to Daisy

Your Thoughts
''Whether you were a fellow handler in SOTF or just an avid reader of the site, we'd like to know what you thought about Edgar Tolstoff. What did you like, or dislike, about the character? Let us know here!''
 * Edgar's an interesting case of a character that I never really found truly narratively appealing in any sense. He was often bland, his characterisation and narrative never really paid much attention to him as a character, and I always felt like he was written in a very mechanic, boring style. When he switched handlers, I found that while the style and narrative improved dramatically, what little characterisation that Edgar had shown tended to be at the very least bipolar, and, at times, outright contradictory. In the end, you have a character that is written very well by swirlythingy, but reads as though his guts have been pulled out. I think that nobody actually had a handle on who Edgar was, and instead just wrote down all the things he did. It makes for a less than involving read. -- NotAFlyingToy
 * Edgar didn't do a lot for me. He wasn't particularly strong even before his inactivity and adoption, and after that his characterization was all over the place. He was going to make an escape plan, then he was going to be a player hunter, then he was going to do... whatever the next thing that popped into his head was. The biggest example for me is in Sunrise, when he goes from charging at Jenna and Jack with the belief that they're playing and the intent to fight, to going "lol jk, you're a lost cause" and stealing a dead girl's stuff before running out, all in the space of two posts. Then in his death thread, he wants to talk to Travis, then kill him, then talk him down, then kill him again, or something, and his death post was a moment of clarity and peace that seemed really out of place given his previous state(s) of mind. All in all, he was pretty "meh". - backslash
 * Good lord, Edgar was a mess, wasn't he? I never managed to nail down a consistent voice or a consistent character. I tried to milk my one good plot (lying to Travis) way too far, to the extent that it overshadowed any other characterisation he might have shown. Then I tried to correct this too late by chucking him into a quieter thread with the intention of grouping up, but quiet thread promptly turned into a death thread and then Edgar got rolled and I was reduced to scrabbling around in the wreckage to attempt to salvage something which could be turned into a halfway plausible reason for him to meet up with Travis again. In nearly every thread, I tried to drop bits of narrative explaining away his decisions thus far (and his post-adoption personality transplant) and hinting at a grand character arc which never existed, an effect somewhat spoilt by the fact that I changed my mind about what exactly the supposed grand arc was almost every other post. Naft said it best - by the time I felt almost comfortable with who Edgar actually was, it was already too late, and then I was forced to drop all my ideas and send him off trundling to his doom. If he'd lived longer, I think I might have been able to redeem him, but as it was he never had a  chance, and the only real choice I had was to embrace his inconsistencies and internal contradictions and take them to their logical conclusion. All in all, some characters are just fated to suck in order that their handler's future characters may hopefully suck less. -- swirlythingy
 * Edgar is a character with a very tumultous time in V5. Under his original handler he had a rather bland narrative and voice, with an emphasis on his cowardice and focus on his own survival. After becoming yet another casualty of the great crash, Swirly took over. However the problems were still there, but added with inconsistent characterisation and how it got rather obvious that the plans for the character were changing in between posts. All this culminates in a death that had Edgar change ideas on what to do with Travis who steals the show completley. Overall Edgar is a character that I can't recommend, too many problems both before and after adoption that hold him back. - Matador